The Secret Life Of Lauren Branning
by tam356
Summary: lauren branning has a secret, will she be able to keep it when she moves to a new place with a new family in order to escape that secret?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter one.**

The last couple of weeks had really taken it out of Lauren Jones, she had been removed from her parents completely and forever, she wasn't allowed to have any kind of contact with them, not that she wanted to but she did want to understand, she needed to understand so she could move on.

She had been in and out of the police station for three weeks now, answering their questions, giving her statement and trying her best to understand exactly what had been going on.

A crime had been committed and Lauren was suffering from it. She had been removed from her baby twin sisters' grace and daisy, she wasn't allowed near her parents, she wasn't even allowed in her home town.

She was currently sat in the car of a family friend; Max and Tanya Branning. They were friends of her parents.

The scene of what happened three weeks ago scared and repulsed her to death. She doesn't even know why it happened, all she knows is it just did happen, there's no denying it didn't; its plastered all over the news and in three more months Lauren will know what the sentence will be for the crime committed.

She was sat in the car, staring aimlessly out of the window, there wasn't one thing throughout the whole journey that gave her face a change of expression.

Life was absolutely disastrous at the moment, it had never really been on top but now it was at an all time low.

She wasn't even allowed to keep her surname, she had to change it to Branning, which was the surname of Max and Tanya.

They had taken her in as one of their own. Lauren had known them since she was born, they'd been friends with her parents for a long time, but as it usually goes, you can never know everything about a person, especially not if they put a façade up.

Max and Tanya also had children of their own, there was abi, who was sixteen. She was a bit shy but generally, she was a nice enough person.

Also they had Oscar, who was six years old and clueless to everything that was happening.

Max and Tanya lived in the same town as Lauren and her family but they were known as friends of the jones family, they were also known of taking Lauren in too, and that didn't go down well with everyone else.

So, they had to move, some place little and small where they wouldn't have much chance of being noticed, taking Lauren with them too.

Lauren wasn't safe back home, after everyone knew what had happened, they were out to get the Jones family.

She had even been attacked in the broad daylight, on the streets. She'd only gone to the shop and some woman had attacked her.

She also got called names as she walked through the streets but nothing as worse as getting shoved about and punched.

That was enough in max's eyes and he decided to take Lauren in and move away with her, their town was no longer safe for her.

Lauren and max had always got on well together. Max was Laurens father's boss.

He really wasn't that interested in being friends with Paul, who was Laurens dad but he felt something strange about him.

Then his wife Tanya, she had been friends with Mary at school, Mary is Lauren's mum.

Max had only agreed to be friends with Mary and Paul because he and Tanya had been asked to be godparents to Lauren, Grace and Daisy, and he felt that he needed to keep an eye on these kids.

Over the years, Max had become quite fond of Lauren. She was very interested in art, which is what Max specialised in.

Max owned a marketing company which was based on design for other companies.

They designed business leaflets, websites, company names etc., anything like that, and of course, max had always taken Lauren to work with him ever since she was a toddler.

Mary and Paul didn't mind him doing that, in fact they were quite pleased because truth be told, they didn't really care for their children.

Lauren grew up to love art, obviously inspired by her uncle maxy, as she used to call him when she was little.

He tried his best to give Lauren normal and stable life while she was just with him in the day times, but some days that was easier said than done.

Lauren would be really happy when Max dropped her off at home after work, but then in the morning, she could be over tired, in a bad mood, aching or in pain and generally just snappy with anyone who dared cross her, Max knew there was something going on in that house, but finding out what was a whole new thing.

Tanya however thought nothing strange of it, that was until the truth was revealed about what just had been happening in that house, it was safe to say everyone was shocked and mortified when they found out.

"We're here babe" max said, turning around to face Lauren and bringing her out of deep thought.

She nodded at him once and unlocked her seatbelt. "Just go straight into the house and unpack, there's a few rules before you leave the house" Max told her.

Lauren sighed, max had always been so kind and understanding with her, she didn't see why that was changing now.

Lauren did as she was told and went up to her new bedroom before beginning to unpack.

"Settling in okay sweetheart?" Tanya asked. Lauren shrugged her shoulders, before looking at the floor as max and abi joined them.

"Right, rule one. Your names Lauren Branning and you're the eldest of our children okay?" he asked.

Lauren nodded her head at him again. "Right we've moved from the country side for a change of scene okay guys?" he asked, receiving a nod again.

Max sighed to himself, he really did hate this. "I know you think I'm being harsh babe, but this is all for your safety, I promise" max told her, earning a weak smile this time.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

The Branning's decided to keep their head low and stay in. They didn't want to risk going out and getting noticed by anyone.

Max was almost certain that nobody would notice them here, they had moved to a very quiet country side, it wasn't a sort of place where everybody knew everybody.

They had a house surrounded by fields and there was about one hundred yards in between each house.

It was a lovely little setting Lauren thought, but she had moved under the wrong circumstances.

She hadn't left the house all week, she was too scared of being noticed. If she even got noticed by one person, it could change everything.

People would want to hurt her, they wanted to make her pay for what happened, pay for the innocent people who lost their lives.

Max knocked on Laurens bedroom door, receiving no answer. He knocked again before deciding to give up and just walk in.

"Lauren" he sighed, she was curled up in bed with her blanket wrapped tightly around her.

Max sat at the bottom of her bed, her face was pale, more pale than usual and she'd definitely lost weight.

It was hard for anybody to recognise her now, the fun, bubbly and feisty girl had been ripped out of her.

"You're letting this kill you Lauren, you can't let it do that" he told her. She turned over n bed to look at him.

Her eyes were swollen and red from where she had been crying so much and her cheeks had tear stains on them.

"Everyone hates me" she sighed. Max pouted his lips together before speaking. "I don't hate you, do I?" he smiled.

"That's not really a question I can answer" Lauren frowned. "Ey. Come on you know I've always adored you" He said.

Lauren shrugged her shoulders. "I just want all this to be over" She frowned. Max smiled at her weakly. "I know you do babe" he said.

Lauren sighed and moved into max's open arms before resting her head on his shoulder. "I miss Grace and daisy" she said, her voice breaking.

Max tightened his arms around her a fraction as he felt the need to comfort her. "I'm sorry all this has happened" he told her, he didn't really know what to say.

"I want it all to end now" she told him, harsher. Max sensed she was becoming angry and pulled out of the hug.

"Soon babe, how about you come and help me make dinner?" he asked her. Seeing her face soften and turn into a slight smile was a relief.

"Okay" she told him. Both Lauren and Max spent the afternoon cooking while the others were at work and school.

Max watched in concern as Lauren picked up a knife with both of her hands, she wasn't going to chop the vegetables because that was all done.

Her grip turned tighter, a lot tighter and her knuckles started to turn white. "Lauren" max said, his tone harsh but it needed to be to get her to stop.

Lauren dropped the knife and apologised before picking the rubbish up and walking towards the front door.

She put the rubbish outside when she saw someone out of the corner of her eye, she felt panicked as he moved towards her. Who the hell was this guy?

"Hi, you alright?" He asked her. He had to be dodgy, why wouldn't she be alright. Nobody had ever asked how she was, apart from max.

She'd never had friends it a boyfriend so she hadn't experienced this before.  
"Er yeah" she replied shooting back inside and slamming the door shut.

Max shot through the kitchen as he heard the bang.  
"What's wrong?" He asked as he saw she was breathing heavily and generally looked panicked.

"There's a guy out there and he was talking to me" she said, her eyes wide.  
"Did he hurt you?" Max asked flaring his nostrils.

"No but be asked me if I was alright" she told him, only to receive a chuckle from max.

"It's not funny, he could be anyone" Lauren said.  
"Babe people are allowed to ask if your okay, it's called being nice" max said.

Lauren nodded and let out a long slow breath but panicked again as the doorbell rang.

"I'm expecting someone, it's the decorator" max said going to the door.  
When max opened the door Lauren saw it was the same person that was outside a moment ago.

They exchanged hellos and the guy looked at Lauren. "Hi, sorry I didn't mean to scare you.." He began.

"Er Lauren" she replied.  
"Lauren this is my nephew joey" max informed her. "Hmm" she replied before swiftly making her way upstairs without another word.

This was weird for her nobody had ever been nice to her before, so why was he?

**Thankyou so much for the reviews, anyone know what the secret is yet? Xx**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

Things were awkward in the Branning's to say the least, Max's nephew, Joey, knew something strange was happening but he couldn't put his finger on it.

He'd asked the girl, Lauren he now knew her name, he'd only asked her if she was okay and she looked like she was terrified.

Then when Max introduced Joey as his nephew, she still didn't look any more relieved.

The odd thing was when Joey had asked the neighbours where he could find the Branning family and an elderly woman had aid that Max Branning, his wife and three children lived at number four.

Now to anybody else that would've seemed normal but it confused joey to no end. Joey had been to visit his aunt and uncle at least twice a month since he was a little kid and he knew for sure there was only two children.

Abi was the eldest and Oscar was the youngest, so why when he got to the house was there a girl around his age who seemed to be completely terrified of him? And still look worried when he introduced himself?

She shot up those stairs as fast as she could, and for sure, he knew that Lauren wasn't one of Max's children.

Joey shared a glance with Max as Laurens bedroom door slammed. "What?" Max asked, as Joey kept on looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Whose she?" Joey asked. "She is Lauren and she's living with us now" Max told him. "Oh, so that's the famous Lauren that you always spoke about?" he smirked at his uncle.

"Yes she is and you,you leave her alone" max warned. Joey held his hands up in defence and smirked back.

"I didn't say anything" he chuckled. "You didn't have to Joey, I know that look, and she's vulnerable" Max told him.

Joey raised an eyebrow at his uncle, realising that this went a lot further than he was letting on.

"Some woman told me you were living here with your three kids, and I'm not being funny Uncle Max but last time I checked, Lauren wasn't one of your children" Joey said.

"Look she's not allowed near her family no more, the court case is in a couple of months and I'm looking after her, alright?" max told him.

Joeys jaw dropped open a fraction. "That's all I'm telling you and if Lauren wants to tell you more that's up to her" Max sighed before walking into the living room.

Joey raised his eyebrow and glanced up the stairs before following Max into the living room.

Joey and max got into conversation and caught up on family stuff before Abi came running through the door breathless.

"Dad.. Oscar fell over in the garden and he wants you" she told him. Max. Sighed before standing up and making his way out.

"Oh hi joey" Abi smiled. "Hey abs, what's new?" He smiled at her. Abi shrugged and they both followed max outside laughing. Oscar was crying and demanded to be taken upstairs to Lauren. They were quite keen on each other and Lauren loved him.

Max sighed and began to go upstairs. Oscar hit max on the chest before frowning at him. "No! Jojo take me" he pouted.

"No I'll take you" max told him. "Dad! Police are on the phone!" Abi shouted. Joey raised an eyebrow as Abu came to the bottom of the stairs.

"Why are the police ringing you?" He asked, confused. "Uh Lauren's court case-" she began before remembering she wasn't supposed to say anything.

Max glared at Abi and then at joey. "Take oscar to Lauren and then straight back down, no funny business" max warned him. Joey chuckled taking oscar.

"Joey I mean it" am warned. "Yeah yeah no funny business I got it, come on bud" he said to a giggling oscar.

Joey knocked on Lauren's door but received no answer as he awkwardly stood there. He decided to try his luck and just walk in.

She was laid on her bed, looking up towards the ceiling with no expression at all.  
Joey cleared his throat making his presence known, also making Lauren jump up.

"Sorry, er oscar wanted to see you, he fell over" joey said nervously, be didn't know why he was so nervous he never got nervous but Lauren had some kind of effect on him.

Oscar reached out to Lauren and joey placed him onto the bed next to her, he watched again as oscar made his way into Lauren's arms.

He stood there awkwardly and decided to take a different approach. "I didn't mean to scare you earlier" joey told her. "That was my fault, don't worry about it" Lauren admitted.

"You can go now jojo" oscar told him. Both Lauren and joey chuckled as oscar leaned into Lauren.

"Thanks for bringing him up then" Lauren told him.  
Joey saw that as he'd outstayed his welcome "yep bye then" he said before walking out.

This was going to be harder than he thought. Her walls were well and truly built.

**Please leave a review.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four.**

Lauren stared into space as Oscar slept in her arms, she didn't understand why Joey was being nice to her.

She got that nobody had ever really been nice to her, well apart from Max and Tanya, they had always been nice to her and her sisters.

That's a thought she missed Grace and Daisy so much and she was positive there was nothing she wouldn't do to see them again.

Anyway back to the Joey front, he either knew something about her or he didn't know anything about her and he just generally liked her, but why?

She wondered just what did he know? She had to go and speak to him, she was good at finding things out, and her mum had taught her well.

Lauren thought of a plan in her head and decided to act on it. She lifted a sleeping Oscar up and carried him out of her room and into his own room before putting him to bed.

After, she made her way downstairs and walked into the living room where max and joey were sat laughing with each other.

Was he laughing at her? She thought to herself. Maybe he knew something about what happened? Maybe max told him.

Lauren shook those thoughts away and cleared her throat as she walked into the living room.

"Hi babe, feeling alright?" Max asked her. "Yeah, Oscar was asleep but he woke when I carried him to his bed and he's asking for joey to go read him a book" she smiled.

Max sympathetically smiled at joey. "Do you mind?" Max asked him. "Course not" joey chuckled getting up of the sofa, before leaving the room.

"Alright Lauren?" Max asked. "Yeah is it ok if I have an early night? I'm tired and haven't slept for days" she told him.

"Course babe, go on up" he smiled. "Night" Lauren smiled before going upstairs. Joey was just shutting Oscar's bedroom door as Lauren reached the top of the stairs.

"Is he okay?" Lauren asked joey. "He was asleep when I got up" joey told her. "Oh" Lauren slowly said as an awkward atmosphere set up on them.

"Listen, I'm sorry about freaking out on you earlier" Lauren told him. Joey smirked at her before replying. "Ey, no it's alright, I don't usually creep up on young women in the dark" joey said causing Lauren to giggle.

"Not always anyway" he told her, making her giggle again. Max appeared at the bottom of the stairs unseen as he listened to the conversation, he couldn't help the broad smile as he heard Lauren laughing again.

He quickly disappeared into the living room as he heard joey invite Lauren into the kitchen for hot chocolate.

Lauren followed joey into the kitchen, forgetting about her plan to see if joey knew the truth about her, she didn't know why she suddenly got so nervous by him, joey definitely had an effect on her, and an effect nobody had ever had on her before.

They entered the kitchen and joey turned around to face Lauren as be flicked the kettle on. His face dropped slightly as he studied her.

"Wow" he said, wide eyed. Lauren silently gasped and felt slightly sick inside. "What?" She asked patting her wavy hair down, wondering if that was the problem.

"No, don't worry it's nothing" joey said feeling very nervous now, he didn't realise he'd said it out loud.

Lauren swallowed a lump in her throat, he was noticeably going to say something about her, and maybe he did know after all. He might have recognised her face from the news or something.

Lauren smiled weakly at him before letting her eyes wander anywhere around the room but not on joey.

Joey sighed to himself, he didn't mean to make her self-conscious or nervous, and he just didn't want to be too forward with her in case it freaked her out.

"Listen I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be rude, I just..." he began. "What?" Lauren nervously laughed.

"Okay this is really humiliating now, I was going to say that you're beautiful" Joey said as he scratched the back of his neck.

It was Lauren's turn to look wide eyed this time, nobody in her life had ever called her beautiful before.

"Are you like winding me up or something? Or did max tell you to say that?" Lauren asked confused, furrowing her eyebrows together.

"What? No" he said in a snappish tone, not intentionally but he couldn't pass the fact that she thought that of him. I… Err. I" Lauren stuttered as Joey snapped at her.

"Why would you think that of me?" Joey asked her, hurt by her comments, not even realising the effect this was having on her.

Lauren continued to stare at Joey, not knowing what to say to him. "I'm not a horrible person Lauren" Joey frowned.

"I didn't say you were" Lauren said quickly as her lip started to give away. Unbeknown to them, Tanya had just walked through the back door and sensing the tense atmosphere straight away.

"No Lauren, I didn't mean it like that, I just wanted you to know I wasn't horrible" he said moving forwards, he wasn't quite sure what he was going to achieve by moving towards her, maybe just place his hand on hers for comfort.

He wasn't expecting the reaction he got though, tears streamed down Lauren's face and she started to visibly shake as she backed into the corner of the kitchen.

"No please don't, I'm sorry" Lauren sobbed, sliding down the wall. "Joey! What are you doing?" Tanya snapped at him as she rushed to Lauren's side.

"I didn't mean to" he said, wondering what the hell was happening. Max was soon rushing through the door as he heard all of the commotion.

"Joey get in the living room now!" max snapped at him. Max noticed joey was pale and he left as soon as he was told to.

"I got it from here babe" Max said, helping Lauren stand up from the floor. "Sorry" Lauren mumbled.

"It's okay darling, why don't you let Max take you up to bed ay? You look tired" Tanya told Lauren.

Lauren nodded at her as her lip began to wobble again. Tanya cupped Lauren's cheek and smiled at her softly. "It'll all get better soon sweetheart, I promise" she told Lauren.

Max lead Lauren up the stairs and into her room, luckily she was already in her pyjamas so that made it easier.

"I'm sorry" she said again. "What happened?" max asked her. "I thought he was going to hit me and I freaked out" she admitted.

Max sighed at Lauren as he sat on her bed. "Joey wouldn't do that babe" Max told her. "Yeah that's what he said, I bet he thinks I'm a right nut case now" Lauren frowned.

"He likes you, I can tell, I think he was just worried he might have upset you" Max told her. "I don't think he likes me like that" Lauren told him.

"Yeah course you don't babe, that's why your blushing" Max chuckled. "Shut up" Lauren told him, half frowning and half giggling.

"Night babe" Max said, kissing her cheek. Night" Lauren smiled. "Oo Max, can you tell Joey I said sorry please?" she asked.

"Yeah I'll tell your boyfriend that you're sorry, gosh" max dramatically sighed, leaving the room.

"Max!" Lauren shouted as he vacated the stairs, she could hear him laughing to himself and she groaned loudly, burying her head into the pillows.

**Thank you for all of your reviews already! They do force me to write more, so thank you! xx**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

Joey slept on the sofa, well he didn't really sleep, and he was too busy thinking about Lauren all night.

He thought about how she had flinched and her body visibly shook when he moved towards her.

That wasn't normal, she obviously thought he was going to hurt her, he would never do that.

Joey wondered what had happened in the previous weeks for Lauren, there had clearly been some serious business going down, she was terrified in everything she did.

Plus, Max mentioned some kind of court case, Joey wondered if the court case was Lauren's or whether she had just been involved in something, maybe she was the victim?

When Max came back downstairs he looked shattered, He looked at Joey sympathetically.

"She's fine" Max told him. "I didn't mean to scare her" Joey said, looking guilty.

Max saw something new in his nephew, something he hadn't seen before. Max knew Joey had played girls before, he hadn't been very good with relationships because to be honest he wasn't that interested in any girl he had ever been with.

"That wasn't your fault Joey, she's fine don't worry okay?" Max told his nephew.

Joey nodded at Max once and then max left the room, he heard him go into the kitchen and make a drink before coming out and closing the kitchen door.

Joey rested his head back on the pillow before the room door opened again to reveal a smirking Max.

"What?" Joey laughed as Max continued to smirk at him. "Your girlfriend told me to tell you she's sorry" Max smirked.

Joey breathed in slowly trying to contain himself. He didn't know what was worse, the fact that max had referred to Lauren as his girlfriend, which happened to be really embarrassing that Max could see through him so easily or the fact that Lauren felt she had to say sorry.

"She's not my girlfriend" Joey told him, chuckling nervously. "No but you want her to be right?" Max smirked.

"Shut up" Joey said as a laughing Max left the room to go to bed himself.

Joey let out a long and steady breath as he felt his cheeks burn up, now that had never happened to him before.

/

Joey woke up a couple of hours later as he heard the cries of Oscar and Lauren trying to comfort him.

He got up and followed the sound into the kitchen. He creaked the door open to reveal Lauren and Oscar.

Oscar was clung to Lauren and she was patting his back as she occasionally took a sip of her water.

Joey cleared his throat to make his presence known also making Oscar and Lauren jump too.

"Hi, sorry" Joey told her, pulling a guilty looking face. Lauren smiled at him gently and he sat down at the table with them, watching as Oscar fell to sleep.

"Hi" Lauren smiled widely at him, she was quite happy to see him, she didn't know why, she just knew she had a warming feeling running through her whole body when he looked at her.

"Hi, you feeling better?" Joey genuinely smiled at her. Lauren swallowed a lump in her throat.

"I'm really sorry about earlier, I didn't mean to freak out on you" Lauren laughed timidly.

"no its okay, I shouldn't have been so snappy, I just wanted you to realise im not a bad person" Joey sighed.

"I know your not a bad person, its just stuff has happened in the past and I need to trust you before I can be normal around you" Lauren told him, she immediately tormented herself as she realised how much she had just opened up to Joey.

She didn't know why she was doing that but it just came so easy and she was so comfortable with it, and it didn't seem to faze joey either.

She got nervous as she waited for joey's response, wondering if she had put her foot in it.

"Ay that's okay, sure you can trust me but course, get to know me before anything else" Joey smiled.

Lauren smiled widely at joey, so happy he understood but even happier he didn't try and hound her to tell him all her secrets.

"Want me to carry him up for you?" Joey asked, referring to Oscar. Lauren nodded at him once and smiled too.

Joey stood up and bent down to take Oscar away from Lauren, only then realising just how close their bodies were.

Lauren smiled awkwardly at Joey, almost letting out a giggle as she felt her cheeks burning, she was pretty sure they were a bright shade of red at the moment.

Joey lifted Oscar up with ease and proceeded to take him upstairs, Lauren following behind.

He put him in bed and Lauren picked Oscars favourite teddy bear up of the floor and put it in bed with him before kissing him on the forehead. "Night night Lozzy" Oscar mumbled in his sleep, causing both Lauren and Joey to smile at him.

"Ah so your Lozzy?" Joey asked as him and Lauren sat on the floor as Oscar drifted back off to sleep.

"Yes" Lauren giggled. "I've heard a lot about you" Joey gently smiled at her.

"Here" joey said, handing her, her glass of water from downstairs. Lauren went to grab the water and knocked it out of joeys' hand, sending it flying over his t-shirt.

Lauren gasped and her hand flew up to cover her mouth as joey chuckled at her.

"Yeah thanks babe" joey chuckled at her. Lauren didn't know which she liked more the thought of joey may having to take his shirt off or the fact he just called her babe.

"I'm sorry" she said seriously before she went into a fit of laughter. Joey raised an eyebrow and placed his hand over Lauren's mouth to keep her quiet.

Laurens breath hitched as their skin connected and Joey felt it too as he warmly smiled at her.

"Sorry, didn't want Oscar to wake up" joey told her. Lauren nodded at him and he removed her hand off of her face.

Lauren decided that she had followed her head all her life and things had turned out pretty shit for he, it was time to follow her heart and maybe, just maybe things might work out for her.

She leant forward, not having no clue what she was doing because never in her life had she done this before.

Joey closed the gap between them and pressed his lips onto Laurens in a heated kiss.

Their lips worked together roughly earning moans and groans from the both of them before they gently pulled away.

"That felt so good" Lauren said, biting her bottom lip. Joey pressed his lips down onto Lauren's again, releasing her lip from her teeth before pulling away again.

"You are an amazing girl Lauren" Joey told her, probably taking her breath away right there and then.

Lauren went to answer but was cut off by max popping his head through the door.

"Err okay you two?" he smirked at them, making them both jump. "Yeah yeah were good, Oscar woke up and we just put him back to bed" Joey told him quickly.

Max raised an eyebrow at the both of them. "Were going to bed now he's asleep though" Lauren told him.

"Okay night" Max chuckled going back into his room. Joey walked Lauren to her door and smiled at her, not sure if he should kiss her goodnight or not.

He decided to deal with the consequences later and he moved into kiss her anyway.

Lauren met his lips in a brief kiss and smiled at him as they broke apart. "Night Lauren" joey smiled before walking down the stairs. Lauren smiled to herself before walking back into her room.

**Anyone know the secret yet? Thank you for all of the reviews I love reading them all! XX**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

Joey was woke up the next morning by Oscar jumping on him whilst giggling to himself.

"Whoa, hey buddy!" Joey laughed. "What you doing?" he asked him, whilst tickling him.

Oscar giggled before he could answer. "Daddy told me to wake you and Lozzy up because it's nearly lunchtime" he laughed.

Joey sat up quickly. "Is it? Did we overlay?" Joey smiled at Oscar. "Yes! "Oscar screeched causing Oscar to laugh.

"Yeah you were too busy flirting with Lauren all night" Max said as he popped his head around the corner.

Joey pursed his lips together and chuckled slightly at Max, "we were putting Oscar to bed" he told him.

"Yeah did you both come up with that as your cover story?" Max smirked. "No serious we were putting him to bed" Joey chuckled, getting up off the sofa, Oscar too.

"Sure, come on you can come get lunch with me" Max told him. Joey nodded and raced up to the bathroom before coming back down five minutes later.

"Oscar go up to Lauren" Max told him. Oscar ran upstairs heading for Lauren's room. "Lauren me and Joey are going to go get lunch, watch Oscar for me!" Max shouted up the stairs.

"Yeah okay!" Lauren shouted back. Max watched as Joey smiled to himself as he heard Lauren's voice.

"Smitten" Max mumbled as he walked out the front door. Joey chuckled as he followed behind him. "shut up!" Joey laughed.

/

"Where's Tanya and Abs anyway?" Joey asked Max as they walked around the shop.

"They've gone shopping, I don't know girl stuff" Max told him, causing Joey to chuckle.

"So you and Lauren?" Max smirked. Joey sighed knowing Max was going to ask him twenty one questions.

"What about us?" Joey asked him. "Well what happened last night?" he asked. "Not a lot, we put Oscar to bed and we talked" Joey said smiling to himself like a Cheshire cat, as he let his memory drift back to the night before.

"Hm, yeah alright, is that what we're calling it these days, talking?" Max smirked.

"That's what happened, we talked" Joey told him. Max looked at Joey with a raised eyebrow.

"Honest, Uncle Max" Joey chuckled. "Okay but just so you know, Abs saw you both kissing outside Laurens bedroom door" Max smirked.

"Oh" Joey replied slowly. Max laughed as Joey gained colour in his cheeks.

"But I am happy you're not shouting about it" Max told him honestly. Joey smiled genuinely at Max.

"She mean a lot to you don't she?" Joey asked him. "Yeah she does" Max replied, not taking it any further.

"Look, did something bad happen to her? Because she seems to get quite scared at times" Joey said.

"Yeah it did, look she's not had the greatest time in life Joey and I'm trying to give her a better shot at it, so please don't take advantage of her and don't hurt her okay?" Max said.

"I wouldn't do that Max" Joey said. Max raised his head and glared at joey. "You're my nephew joey and I love you as much as Lauren and my kids but I have seen how you treat girls" he told him.

"Yeah I'm not denying that, but Lauren's different and I promise I will never hurt her" Joey said truthfully.

Max and Joey made their way back to the house and Max could already see how excited Joey was to see Lauren.

"Lauren Oscar!" Max shouted up the stairs as him and Joey walked through to the kitchen.

Joey heard Lauren and Oscar come running down the stairs laughing just moments later.

Lauren stopped when she saw joey, smiling at him brightly. Max saw what was happening, this had happened so many times and he knew he was going to have to explain to Joey.

"This is Joey, my nephew, he's staying with us" Max told her. Joey furrowed his eyebrows together, why was Max introducing them again? They'd already met yesterday. Jesus, they'd done more than meet, they kissed.

"Oh hi, I'm Lauren" Lauren smiled widely, reaching her hand out so Joey could shake it

Joey looked at Lauren and Max, feeling very confused but shook her hand anyway.

"Why don't you go and put the TV on for Oscar babe?" Max asked her. Lauren disappeared from the room and Joey turned to Max.

"She doesn't know who I am?" Joey asked Max. "I did tell you, you shouldn't have got involved with her" Max told him.

"What's up with her?" Joey asked. "She's just got a few memory issues" Max told him.

"Yeah, really?" Joey asked, the sarcasm evident in his voice. "I want water" Oscar demanded walking into the room.

Joey chuckled and got Oscar a cup of water, little did Joey know that the water was in fact for Lauren, so she could take her medication.

"Where'd Oscar just go?" Max asked. "Err living room I think?" Joey told him. "Oscar!" Max shouted.

Lauren and Oscar came running into the kitchen laughing. Right, hungry Lauren, Oscar?" joey asked.

Lauren looked at Joey confused, "Err yeah" she said furrowing her eyebrows together.

"You know Joey, my nephew?" Max said. Joeys jaw dropped, surely she hadn't forgot him in the last couple of minutes.

"Sorry, hi I'm Emily "she smiled.

**Oo, confusing? Leave a review please. Any closer to guessing the secret? What do you thinks causing Laurens memory issues? **

**Xx**


	7. Chapter 7

_**Okay, so I'm sorry for confusing you so much in the last chapter, hopefully this will clear a few things up for you. **_

**Chapter Seven**

Joey remained silent throughout lunch, scared that he'd say the wrong thing to Lauren.

He was so confused at the minute. The first time he had met Lauren, he felt an instant connection.

Then this morning Lauren didn't even know who joey was and Max had to introduce Joey to Lauren again, which not only confused Joey but it hurt him too, because they had shared a kiss and he felt a connection to her which was broken.

Then to confuse him even more, Lauren had forgotten Joey again just a minute later.

She had introduced herself to Joey again, but this time as Emily, who the heck was Emily?

Max looked between Lauren and Joey with concern, he could see that this was tearing Joey up inside, this was why he didn't want Joey to get involved with Lauren on an emotional level.

Lauren was a very complicated person at the minute but fortunately for Lauren and everyone else, today was the last day she had to take her medication, which was causing her memory issues.

Lauren took Oscar upstairs to play in his room which Max was grateful for. "Do you want to go to the pub? I think you deserve an explanation" Max told him, deciding that now was the time that he told joey what was really wrong with Lauren.

Joey glanced up at Max, having been broken from his thoughts. "Yeah who we going to talk about, Lauren or Emily?" Joey snapped.

"Look I know your upset" Max began. "Why does Lauren think her names Emily?" Joey asked him.

"Ssh come on" Max told him. Max and Joey got to the pub and Joey went and sat down while Max fetched the drinks.

There were a million thoughts going through Joey's head of what might have happened to Lauren, for sure he knew it was something bad.

Max had phoned Tanya and filled her in on what had happened while he was at the bar.

Tanya had gone home early to keep an eye on Lauren, knowing from max that she had took her medication.

Max got back to the table and there was an awkward silence as Max bided his time.

"So, you going to tell me what happened to Lauren?" Joey asked as he took a sip of his beer.

Max sighed to himself, before rubbing his hands over his face. "I don't even know where to start" he sighed.

"How did you meet Lauren?" Joey asked Max. "Tanya went to school with Laurens mum and they lost contact but they got back in touch when Mary, Laurens mum was pregnant with Lauren" Max told him.

"And what was she like?" Joey asked. "She was normal you know? Just a normal mother, she seemed okay" Max told him.

"Okay so what else?" Joey asked. "Well Tanya pestered me for ages to give Paul, who is Lauren's dad a job, so I did, well because Mary was pregnant with Lauren and they were struggling" Max told Joey.

"So you gave him a job then?" Joey asked. "Yeah, I found him a bit weird, I didn't really like him at all but Tanya convinced me to give him a chance" he sighed.

"So what happened?" Joey asked. "Well I never got on with Paul, he just creeped me out, he said weird things and just acted odd in general and after about four months he got another job in another marketing company" he said.

"So what did you lose contact?" joey asked. "Believe me I tried to but, Mary had the baby, Lauren and me and Tanya were asked to be godparents, basically we babysat Lauren a lot, they just weren't interested in her which I found really odd" max told him.

"Me and Tanya, we got really attached to Lauren, we adored her, I took her to work with me every day and I just couldn't grasp why they weren't interested in Lauren, I mean she's the first baby and they just didn't care" Max said.

"That is totally weird didn't you say anything?" Joey frowned. "I wanted to but Tanya told me to leave it because it would only cause trouble between us all and they'd probably stop us seeing Lauren" he told Joey.

"So basically we carried on as normal, I took Lauren to work with me every day but sometimes she was really moody then the next day she could be happy, then as she got older I noticed she could be limping or she'd be in a lot of pain, she'd have bruises on her and stuff but she told me she had some kind of condition that made her bruise easily" he sighed.

"Did she have a condition? And didn't her parents mind that she was never home with them?" Joey asked, confused.

"I don't think she had a condition and no they seemed happy, to be honest they were never that bothered about Lauren and were just happy to ha e her out the way".

"So how come your looking after Lauren now and how come she's suffering at the moment because that's what it seems like" Joey said.

"There was an accident" Max sighed. "What kind of accident?" Joey frowned, not liking the sound of any of what he was being told.

"Lauren had twin sisters, Grace and Daisy, she was babysitting them one night a couple of weeks ago while her mum and dad were out for the night and there was a break in at the house" max told him.

"She was on her own?" Joey asked, shocked. "Yeah, she was on the phone to me at the time, she was upstairs getting one of Tanya's bags that Mary had borrowed, I was out on the street waiting in my car when I saw all these guys break in the house, I immediately told Lauren to hide and she did" max sighed, as he swallowed a lump in his throat.

"Did anyone get hurt?" Joey asked. "The twins were killed, they got shot but the guys that broke in, they left before the police got there and Lauren wasn't hurt, she was a mess but she didn't get hurt" max told him.

"Oh my god, and that was just a couple of weeks ago?" he asked. "Yeah, the police got there along with her parents and they totally flipped out at Lauren and Paul hit Lauren, me and the police had to stop him" Max said.

"Wait he actually hit her even though there was a break in and it wasn't her fault?" Joey asked, in total shock.

"They made a statement saying that Lauren killed the twins and there was never no break in" max told him.

Joey almost chocked on his drink "What? Why would they do that?" Joey asked.

"They are really messed up, Lauren also made a statement, she really hated her parents they never loved her, never did anything for her and once she knew she had mine and Tanya's support she was able to tell the whole truth about everything" Max said.

"Everything?" Joey asked. "There's more?" he asked again. "Yeah, Lauren never had any kind of condition, she was actually physically abused all her life by her parents" he said.

Joey remained silent, not really having an answer to what Max just told him.

"She told me and the police that if me and Tanya couldn't babysit for her then she would just be left on her own, and they would hit her for no reason at all" max said.

"That is so messed up" Joey sighed. There was a silence that fell upon them before Joey thought of something.

"So where does the whole memory loss come in and why did she think her name was Emily?" Joey asked.

"Well Laurens real name is 'Lauren Emily Jones' and she told me that when she was little she used to pretend her name was Emily, it was her way of escaping this cruel life she'd been forced into living" max told joey.

"So this medication she's taking, it makes her memory backtrack but she had to take it because she was suffering depression from all the hate and bullying she was getting but today is her last day she had to take it" max said.

"Bullying?" Joey asked. "The story got on the news and the whole town thinks Lauren killed her sisters and one day while she was at the shops she was attacked by this woman, we took her in and we had to move here because it wasn't safe for us or for Lauren" max told him.

"This is big, will she go to prison?" Joey asked. "Well the trial has been moved forward to two weeks' time, so we'll find out then but with all Lauren's evidence it's more than likely Mary and Paul will go down for the murder of the twins and physical abusing of Lauren" he said.

"Wait, the murder too?" joey asked, wide eyed. "Yeah, apparently they set the whole thing up, they're messed up people" max sighed.

"Wow, I actually hate those two, can we go home, I actually really want to see Lauren" joey said.

"I'm going to ring Tanya, tell her to tell Lauren you know everything and you're supporting her, you are right?" Max asked joey.

"Course I am" Joey replied.

/

Lauren sat on her bed shaking like a leaf, joey knew every little detail about her whole life and it scared her how he was going to react even though Tanya had already told her he was supportive of her.

Max and Joey got back to the house and Tanya sent Joey upstairs to Lauren, but not before warning him to be gentle with her.

/

Joey knocked lightly on Laurens bedroom door, he heard her clear her throat before shouting for him to come in.

She was sat on her bed in her pyjamas, she looked so tired and weak, and Joey could tell she was scared of what was about to happen.

"Hi" Joey smiled as he walked over to her and sat next to her on the bed. "Hi" she replied back.

There was a silence for a minute as nobody spoke but Joey decided to break it.

"You know, you don't have to be scared no more Lauren, you have a lot of people on your side including me" he said.

"You don't hate me or think any less of me?" She asked him. "No way, you've been through a hell of a lot and I only see you as a stronger person for dealing with it all" he said.

Lauren dared a look up at him with tears eyes, nobody apart from Max had ever shown any interest or had been on her side before.

"Thank you" she told him. "You're not on your own Lauren and trust me everything is going to be okay" he told her, smiling.

Joey watched as her bottom lip started to wobble and he wasn't sure if his next move would scare her or not but he was willing to take that risk.

He scooped her up into his arms and lung her to his body into a tight hug as she finally let out a sob.

"It's okay" he told her. Joey sat her back down on the bed so they were sat cross legged in front of each other.

"I don't know if this is too much too soon for you and you can say no if you're not ready" Joey said, watching as she furrowed her eyebrows together.

"Will you go out with me?" he asked her. Lauren nodded at him enthusiastically as the remaining tears rolled down her cheeks "Yes".

Lauren surprised Joey as she made the first move this time, she leant forward and pressed her lips onto his.

She rested her hands on his shoulders as his placed themselves on her waist.

Joey slid his tongue across the bottom of Lauren's lip and she gained him entry straight away before their tongues danced together.

They pulled away moments later, breathless. Joey brought one of his hands up to cup her cheek, gently caressing it before tucking some lose hair behind her ear.

"You're so beautiful" He told her making her blush and causing Joey to chuckle.

"How about you get some sleep?" joey suggested. Lauren nodded at him before joey scooped her up into his arms, making Lauren giggle.

Joey successfully tucked her into bed and kissed her on the forehead. "Will you stay with me?" she asked him.

"Is that okay with you?" Joey asked. "I want you to" she told him. Joey smiled at her then stripped down to his boxers before climbing into bed and bringing Lauren close to him.

Lauren rested her head on his chest as joey kissed her forehead, she couldn't describe this feeling of feeling comforted and respected, it was something she had never felt before.

_**So I hope this answers some of your questions, leave a review please**____** Xx**_


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

Max checked in on Lauren just before he went to bed and he didn't know if he was surprised to see her tucked up in bed with Joey or not.

Max was happy Joey and Lauren had each other, especially Lauren but it scared him to death that any of them could get hurt.

If Lauren did end up getting charged and sent down, Max was pretty sure that would tear Joey apart, even though Joey and Lauren had only known each other a short amount of time, anyone could see they had a strong connection built already.

Max left Lauren's bedroom with a smile on his face, he was pretty sure everything was going to be okay for them now.

/

Joey grew more worried through the night as Lauren was having some kind of nightmare.

She was tossing and turning in the bed and she was sweating from her face, Joey wasn't quite sure what to do to help so he just watched her and hoped it would pass soon.

After about five minutes, he couldn't take it anymore, he couldn't watch her crying and looking scared in her sleep, it's bad enough she felt like that when she was awake.

"Lauren" he said while shaking her body. "No, Grace, Daisy, No!" she cried before jolting up in the bed.

She panicked as she sat up, staring wide eyed at the wall in front of her. Joey sat up and rested his hand on her back.

She gasped, forgetting there was anyone else in the room with her. "Ay, it only me" joey said.

Lauren leaned back into Joey's chest as he sat behind her, she regained her breath before realising what happened.

"I'm sorry" she told him. "You've got nothing to be sorry for babe" he told her.

Lauren's breath picked up again as Joey referred to her as babe. She turned around in his lap and swung her legs over his.

She smiled at him gently and rested her head on his chest as he played with her hair gently.

Lauren had a weird feeling running through her body but she couldn't explain it, she'd never felt it before, it was like a warm kind feeling.

She positioned her head so it was resting on its side on Joey's shoulder but so she was looking up at him.

They stared at each other intensely for a moment before Lauren used her hand to bring joeys head downwards, bringing their lips to connect with each other.

Their lips moved together and Lauren climbed onto joey's lap as they got lost in the kiss.

She let her legs fall either side of his and leant forward, applying more pressure into the kiss as she straddled him.

Joey's hands gripped at Laurens waist, pulling her closer and causing their crotches to rub.

"oh." She moaned. Joey smiled into the kiss as he saw how effected she was.

"I want to feel you joey" Lauren whimpered. Joey froze and paused what he was doing, before lifting Lauren off him.

Lauren frowned at him. "What's wrong?" she asked him. "Nothing, I just think we should get some sleep now" he told her, getting himself back under the covers.

"Okay" she frowned. She got herself back into bed but left space between them both.

Joey sighed as he could see her body was tense. "Lauren" he sighed, stroking his hand up and down her arm.

"It's not that I don't want to" He told her. "Yeah well that's what it looks like" she told him.

"I do want to, I really want to" he said, his last part of the sentence quiet.

"Please babe, don't push me away now" he said, entwining their fingers. "Just let me explain" he asked her.

Lauren reluctantly turned around to face him. "I don't want to take advantage of you" he told her.

"You're not, not if I want it too" she told him. "I don't want you to regret it babe, I just want to wait until all this is over and you can start your new life" he told her.

Lauren thought for a moment, realising he was just trying to help her. "Okay" she smiled softly at him.

"Yeah? And if you still want to after the trial then you can" he told her. "Do you promise?" she asked him.

"I promise, after the trial it will be a new life, you can have your old name back and you can live your life the way you want, with me and the Branning's yeah?" he asked her.

She nodded and smiled at him before joey pecked her lips softly.

_**Leave a review please, and thank you for the reviews you all already left. Xx**_


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine.**

Lauren and Joey slept all the way through the night after Lauren's nightmare. Joey was the first to wake up much to his surprise, especially after Max had told him that Lauren wasn't sleeping well lately.

He watched as she slept in his arms, she looked so young. It had been so hard for him to reject her last night, especially when he saw the look on her face.

Lauren shifted in her sleep before opening her eyes and then quickly closing them again.

"Still tired babe?" Joey chuckled as Lauren turned around and buried her head into his chest.

"Ugh, I feel like I need to sleep for a year at least" she moaned, opening her eyes and looking at Joey.

"Well now that everything's going to be okay, you can get into a routine can't ya?" Joey told her, smiling at her as he got out of bed.

Lauren smiled at him, she thought it was cute that he only saw the positives.

"You do know that everything might not be okay? If the judge believes them over me, then I'll go to prison Joey" Lauren informed him.

"But you're the one telling the truth, look Lauren you're not going anywhere okay?" he told her, as he leant down over her and pressed a soft kiss to her lips, making her smile in return.

"I hope so" Lauren told hum truthfully. "It will, now come on, Max already shouted us three times for breakfast" He said.

Lauren pulled a guilty looking face and jumped out of bed, she stood up and kissed Joey on the lips before they both walked out of the room, hand in hand and with smiles on their faces.

"Hello" Oscar chimed as Joey and Lauren walked into the kitchen. They both said hello back and everyone began to eat breakfast.

Lauren burst out laughing in the middle of everyone eating breakfast, confusing them all.

"You alright babe?" Max asked Lauren smirking. "Don't make me look like a nutter Max!" Lauren scowled at him, making him burst into laughter too.

"Tanya, Abi and Joey looked between Max and Lauren confused. Tanya raised an eyebrow at Max only for him to shrug at her.

"He keeps looking at me smirking then pointing to Joey and winking at me" Lauren told Tanya but glared at Max.

"Oh Max! Leave her alone" Tanya warned him. "Just winding you up babe" Max told her.

Abi carried on giggling with Max as Lauren glared at them both. She felt Joey entwine their hands together under the table.

Lauren looked up at him and smiled. "Abi has a boyfriend" I said smirking at her.

Max almost choked on his drink, while Abi froze up and glared at Lauren. "No she hasn't" Max told Lauren.

Abi almost begged Lauren with her eyes causing both Lauren and Joey to laugh.

"I'm just kidding, she doesn't have one really" Lauren told Max. Max slowly let a breath out while Abi mouthed 'thank you' to Lauren which Tanya didn't miss.

/

Over the next two weeks things went quite well for Lauren, her and Joey got on really well, Joey had even convinced Lauren to leave the house on a couple of occasions.

Lauren was very surprised to see that people were being nice to her, nobody was judging but then again nobody knew what had happened.

Lauren had also been introduced to Joey's sister, Alice and they got on like a house on fire.

Alice was really sweet and kind but she definitely had a feisty side to her as well.

With Lauren's permission, Joey told Alice everything about what had happened to Lauren.

Alice had just simply hugged Lauren and cried herself, she also invited herself to the court case, promising Lauren that everything would be okay.

Lauren had also told Whitney and Poppy everything too, they were her two friends, it had even surprised Lauren that she'd managed to make friends for the first time in her life.

They were supportive of her too, and Lauren didn't really have much choice to tell them because when they found out Joey was her boyfriend it just looked odd.

Everyone thought they were cousins as Max had introduced Lauren as his daughter and Joey as his nephew, Lauren just wanted to clear that up.

/

Bringing us back to the present moment, Lauren and Joey laid in bed the night before the trial.

Joey was fast asleep like he had been for the last four hours but Lauren couldn't help but feel everything was going to go wrong tomorrow.

She felt Joey shift at the side of her as she laid on her back staring at the ceiling.

"Hey" Joey said tiredly, leaning over to press a kiss to Lauren's cheek. "It will be fine babe" Joey told her, like he had told her hundreds of times already.

"You don't know that" she told him, turning on her side so she could see him.

"You did nothing wrong, so actually I do know that" Joey said. She smiled at him weakly, before leaning into hug him.

They pulled apart and Joey saw the tears in Laurens eyes. "Ay, come on babe" he told her pulling her into a hug again.

"I'm so scared Joey, I don't want to see them again" she sobbed. Joey held on to her tighter.

"I promise you, it will be okay" he told her. Lauren pulled out of the hug and looked him in the eye.

"What if it's not though, what if I never see you again after tomorrow?" she asked him.

"You're going to see me so much, you'll get sick of the sight of me" he chuckled.

"I won't" she laughed, causing Joey to smile. She pressed her lips onto his and moved them against his.

"I love you" she told him. "I love you too" he replied applying more pressure to the kiss.

Lauren got up and straddled him as she let their tongues work together. "Sorry" she said, quickly climbing off him, realising she had took it too far.

"No, if you still want to, then I do too" he told her. Lauren looked up at him in surprise and nodded at him.

Joey laid Lauren down on the bed gently, before hovering over the top of her. Their lips worked together once more.

Joey lifted his t-shirt from her body, leaving Lauren just in her knickers. "You're so beautiful baby" Joey told her as he kissed his way down her neck and finishing off at her breasts.

"I want you now Joey" Lauren panted underneath him. Joey smirked at her and stood up to discard his boxers.

Lauren also got rid of her knickers too, just in time for Joey hovering back over her.

He lined himself up at Lauren's entrance before looking at her again. "Are you sure babe?" he asked her.

She nodded at him before resting her hands on his arms. Joey pushed into her as slowly as he could, he didn't want to rush.

Lauren wriggled underneath him until he buried himself deep inside her. They set a steady rhythm together for a while until Lauren could feel herself getting closer to the edge and they sped up.

"Oh god. Joey!" She moaned. "Shh" he chuckled, moving down to kiss her lips so he could quiet her down.

Joey bought Lauren to her release, him following shortly after. Joey collapsed down next to Lauren and pulled her into his arms tightly.

"Don't think about tomorrow okay? Think about what we just did" he chuckled.

Lauren laughed along with him. "Night" she told him. "Night baby" he told her pressing a kiss onto her forehead. Lauren turned over and Joey wrapped his arms around her securely.

"I love you" he mumbled as they both drifted off into a deep sleep.

**Leave a review please. So what do you thinks gunna happen at the trial? Xx**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

Lauren and Joey both overlaid the next morning, due particular activities the night before.

Tanya was the one to go and wake them up as she had heard Lauren at 3am in the morning enjoying some certain time with Joey.

She was pretty certain that they would still be naked under that blanket and she really didn't want Max to go in and find them in there together cuddled up together with no clothes on.

She tapped lightly on the bedroom door, hearing a groan come from joey. She walked into the bedroom and smiled at Lauren sprawled across Joey's chest.

She had never seen Lauren so happy in all of the eighteen years she had been alive to as happy as she had been these past few weeks with Joey.

Lauren flickered her eyes open looking straight at Tanya. She blushed deeply and shyly smiled at Tanya as Joey also styled an awkward look too.

"Morning loves, your late, we leave in an hour" Tanya told them. Lauren raised her head slightly before gasping.

"Err we'll be ready soon" she told Tanya, who smiled at her and left the room.

"Well that wasn't awkward at all" Joey said, releasing a breath, which he wasn't sure he'd been holding.

Lauren giggled and smiled at him, but Joey could see the smile didn't quite stretch that far.

"Don't worry about a thing okay? Everything will be alright and you got all us aint ya? Supporting you" Joey told her.

"Thank you" Lauren told him, kissing his lips softly. "Love you" she told him. "Love you more" he smirked as they both started to get dressed.

Lauren wore a black dress with tights and a black blazer while joey wore black trousers with a long sleeved white shirt tucked in.

"Wow look at you" Lauren giggled, standing behind joey, wrapping her arms around his neck as he looked at his appearance through the full length mirror.

"What?" he chuckled. "You look good in a white shirt babe" Lauren told him, biting her bottom lip.

Joey turned around in Lauren's arms, smirking at her as he laid his hands to rest on her waist.

"You look good in a dress babe and when this is all over, I'm gunna take you out on dates, I'll get to see you in a lot more dresses then" he said, throwing a cheeky wink.

Lauren giggled as Joey pressed his lips onto hers, they moved them together slowly before joey entered his tongue into Lauren's mouth.

The kiss turned passionate and before they knew it, Joey had Lauren pinned up against the bedroom door.

They were broke apart by Max calling their names from downstairs. They were breathless as they laid their foreheads against each other's.

"Don't even worry about a thing okay? Just think of today as a day you get away from your parents, you're so strong, I know you can do this" Joey told her, kissing her forehead.

"I love you" she told him. "I love you too baby a lot, come on" he said taking her hand and leading her down the stairs.

There was just Max at the bottom of the stairs, all the others were waiting outside in the car.

"You ready babe?" he asked her. Lauren sighed. "As ready as I'll ever be" she told him.

Joey squeezed Lauren's hand. "I'll give you two a minute yeah? I'll be in the car" Joey said, kissing her cheek. Lauren closed her eyes briefly as his lips touched her skin.

Max smiled at the couple and then watched as Joey made his way outside, Lauren's eyes following his every move.

"You love him, don't you?" Max asked. "Yeah I do" she smiled. "He loves you too, I can tell" he told her.

Lauren smiled softly at max. "Listen I just wanted to say thank you for everything you've done for me over the past couple of months, well everything you've done for me all my life really" Lauren said.

"Ay, you're saying it like this is goodbye" Max frowned. "Well it might be" she sighed.

"You don't get rid of me that easily, you're going nowhere trust me" he told her.

"I'm so scared" she told him, her voice breaking. Max pulled Lauren into a hug, she may not be one of his kids but she is his little girl, and she always would be.

"Ay it's okay to be scared" he told her as she cried. Lauren and Max made their way to the car five minutes later after they hugged it out.

Joey instantly saw that Lauren had been crying and she was hugging into him as soon as she was in the car.

The journey to the court was quiet and depressing, it got even more depressing when Lauren caught a glance of her parents through the car window, and they smirked at her which riled Max up.

All in all the case wasn't too bad Lauren thought, not as bad as she thought it would be anyway.

Joey hated every moment though, he saw Lauren's parents keep glaring and smirking at Lauren and he wanted to hurt them, he wanted to hurt them like they hurt Lauren.

Lauren looked at them once and she could tell they weren't sorry so she refused to make eye contact with them again after that.

Max and Joey were furious with Mary and Paul's judge, he really dug into Lauren.

Alice and Tanya had to shut Joey and Max up on several occasions before they got themselves kicked out of the court as they kept shouting at the judge and Max had even took it up on himself to shout insults at Mary and Paul too.

Abi had ran out of the court in tears when she saw Lauren crying and struggling to tell the judge what happened, Lauren had been part of Abi's life since she was born and Abi saw Lauren as her older sister even if that wasn't biologically true.

The judge called a break before the verdict was called and everyone sat outside in silence.

Lauren sat sobbing on Joeys lap in the corner for the whole time they were on break while the others sat just outside the doors talking to Laurens solicitor.

They were called back in and Lauren was hysterical, not wanting to go back in, she clung to Joey like a baby.

Lauren kissed Joey like there was no tomorrow. "I know this is goodbye" she whispered. "No this is not goodbye, now get yourself back in there and show them what your made of" Joey told her.

Lauren unwillingly walked back into the court room and took her place again, her parent at the opposite end of the room.

"All stand" the judge called. It all went in slow motion for Lauren, all she could hear was the judge's voice and all she could see was Joey.

She was shaking like a leaf and the tears were pouring down her cheeks. Joey didn't take his eyes off Lauren as the judge called his verdict.

Joey's lips were pouted and slightly apart. "I find the verdict guilty on all charges" he called out.

Lauren's eyebrows raised up quickly and she sobbed. Joey's eyes filled up too and he felt like his heart had been ripped out of his chest while someone was constantly punching him in the stomach.

Max was on his chair with his head in-between his hands, also crying. Tanya and Alice's hands had flew up to cover the gasps escaping their mouths while Abi had ran out to be sick.

Lauren fell to the floor, sliding down the wall, sobbing hysterically as a uniformed security officer came and escorted her to her designated section.

**Leave a review please. So what do you think happened and what's gonna happen to Lauren? … Xx**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

"No!" Joey shouted as he jumped over the barrier and ran his way over to Lauren.

The security guards had made an attempt to stop him but he had already gone past them.

Lauren shook her head and put her hand up to stop him as she sobbed. "Don't come near me, I don't want you near me if I've gotta say goodbye" she cried.

All of the court fell into a silence as they watched the young couple interact. "Babe come on, this isn't goodbye" he said, edging towards her a little bit more.

"I'm going to prison Joey, I've been found guilty of killing my sisters" Lauren sobbed.

Max made his way over, shrugging the security guards off him. "We'll get you out babe, I promise" Max told Lauren, almost on the verge of breaking down himself.

"You promised me, you promised me everything would be okay" she sobbed as she finally let Joey hold her.

"And it will be" he told her. Lauren looked over at her parents, her dad was sat there resting with his arms behind his head, smiling at her.

Truth be told, he gave her the creeps. She looked at her mum and she honestly felt sorry for her, there was a lot that Mary and Lauren hadn't exactly been truthful about.

Mary had visible tears in her eyes and Lauren knew what was about to happen.

Lauren shook her head at her mum, something Max didn't miss. "What was that Lauren?" Max asked frowning.

Lauren looked at Max with a confused look on her face "Nothing" she said shrugging her shoulders.

"You shook your head at Mary" Joey told her. Lauren stared at them blankly. "Lauren is there something you haven't told me?" Max asked her, frowning.

Lauren went to answer but saw Mary move to stand up. "No Mum!" she shouted as Mary ran in front of the judge.

"Mary! Sit back down now!" Paul's strong and overpowering voice echoed around the room and caused everyone to stop what they were doing.

Even joey stopped to raise an eyebrow. "Mum don't!" Lauren begged her. Paul got up from his seat and made his way over to the girls.

"Listen to your daughter Mary!" he whispered angrily. "Why are you gonna hit me? I'll take a million beatings for Lauren and you know it! It's not like I haven't before is it?" she asked him.

There were gasps all around the room. Especially from Tanya and Abi, who had just got to Lauren.

"I knew it! I knew all along that you were doing this to Mary too!" Tanya snapped at Paul.

Max held back Tanya as he saw Paul becoming tenser. "I'm so sorry Lauren" Mary told her.

Max and Joey looked at Lauren confused. "Wait your mum has been protecting you, she hasn't been involved?" Max asked.

Lauren shook her head, not removing her eyes of her mum. "It was all Paul! I tried to get her away so many times" Mary announced to the court.

"She wouldn't leave me alone with him" Mary cried. "Mum" Lauren sighed as she saw how Paul was reacting.

"You stupid cow!" Paul shouted before charging towards his wife and daughter but failing.

Abi sobbed quietly behind her mum. Paul looked at her and smirked. "Get along with Abi don't you Lauren?" Paul asked.

"If you touch her, I'll break your legs" Lauren snapped at him. Obviously she knew she couldn't do that but she was just warning him.

Paul laughed at Lauren before charging towards Lauren and knocking her to the floor.

There was up raw in the court, there were security guards and police officers everywhere

Joey had instantly pulled Lauren up off the floor and into his arms near enough before she even hit the floor.

Paul was restrained and taken away somewhere. The judge called them all to stand still, letting Lauren go free.

He still sentenced Mary to a years' worth of community service because of the involvement about the murder of the babies.

The judge said she should've come forward but he realised how scared she was and how over powering Paul was too.

All in all it was a successful but a straining day, some were still confused too but for the mean time they were all going to go back to Max's until they knew what was happening for sure.

Joey and Lauren clung to each other all the way home, because she was pretty surprised he was still here after all the drama he just witnessed about her life.

**Oo tense! Was you expecting that about Mary? Leave a review please. Xx**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve**

Lauren knew she was going to have to answer Max's questions when she got back to the house.

On the way back to the house, Lauren watched Max and she could clearly tell that h wasn't happy with her.

In Lauren's defence, she had made a promise to her mum that she wouldn't say a thing about her mum not being involved.

Lauren wasn't happy about keeping quiet, but she was protecting her mum, just like she had protected Lauren the best she could all her life.

They all got out of the car and Max opened the door for Abi to get out of before slamming it shut in front of Laurens face.

Lauren turned to face the other way where Joey was stood waiting with the door open.

She looked at Joey as she got out of the car, watching him smile at her sympathetically.

"Please don't look at me like that Joey" Lauren sighed as she stepped out of the car.

"You brought this on yourself Lauren, you lied to Max and everyone else and after everything he did for you" he said.

Lauren glared at Joey. "Only because I told her to" Mary said raising an eyebrow at Joeys tone.

"Mum, come on, leave it" Lauren said pulling at her arm. "No Lauren, you've been treated like crap all your life, I'm stumped if I'm gonna let it happen again" she snapped.

Joey frowned at Mary before raising an eyebrow. "Oh you mean like you did all her life?" Joey snapped.

"Joey!" Lauren snapped at him, frowning. "Actually I tried my best for Lauren" Mary snapped back.

Joey laughed bitterly at Mary while Lauren sighed. Max, Tanya, Abi and Alice came outside to see what was taking so long.

"By letting her dad beat her senseless since she was a baby? Yes you're a great mother" Joey told her.

Lauren watched her mum as she became more panicked, she could see the tears form in her eyes.

"I tried my best for Lauren, at least I'll never treat her like rubbish, much like you are" Mary snapped, her voice breaking as she sprinted down the street.

"Mum" Lauren sighed. Lauren turned to Joey to see him shifting uncomfortably.

"Thanks a lot!" Lauren told him. "Yeah well truth hurts" he told her. "Yeah, yeah it does, I'm starting to see a whole new truth and I don't like it" Lauren said, before running down the street after her mum.

"Lauren! What was that all about?" Max asked joey. "Mary has endangered Lauren all her life and now she's suddenly the good guy?" Joey asked.

"You idiot, you do know that your chances with Lauren are small now?" Max told Joey, motioning with his thumb and finger.

"There not small because Lauren and me are already together" he told Max, frowning.

"Yeah I wouldn't be so sure anymore" Max said, walking inside, followed by the others.

"I can't believe you spoke to Lauren and her mum that way Joey" Alice sighed, before walking inside the house.

"Al!" Joey called after his sister but received no response. Joey rubbed his hands over his face before deciding he needed to go for a walk.

Joey was walking through the fields when he saw Mary in the distant. He decided he should probably apologise for Lauren's sake.

As he got closer he saw the horror on Mary's face. "Mary?" Joey shouted. She didn't look at him but carried on staring as she was before. "Lauren" she whimpered.

Joey looked to where Mary was looking and he saw Lauren walking towards her, as he looked closer he saw a man speed walking behind Lauren.

"Lauren! Run!" Mary shouted. Lauren turned around to see the man running after her, she gasped before running as fast as she could across the rest of the field to her mum.

Joey could instantly tell that this guy was going to reach Lauren in no time. He ran towards Lauren, pushing her beside him as the other guy tried to make his way past Joey.

Lauren saw how strong this guy was but also knew Joey was strong too, she stood next to her mum panicking.

"What shall we do?" she asked her mum. "I've already phoned Max and the police.

Lauren went to move forward as Joey received a punch to the face. "No Lauren!" he shouted at her.

Lauren was crying at this point, she so badly wanted to do something to help as joey and this guy were fighting in this field.

She gave up all hope and moved forward to help, despite Joeys requests to stay put.

Lauren felt a tug on her arm and then herself being pulled back. She saw it was Max as he pushed her back.

Max dragged Joey away from this guy as the police ran over in gangs.

Lauren looked over at Joey seeing the mess his face was in. She wondered if they were okay, if they were still together or not.

Little did she know that he was wondering the exact same thing. Lauren frowned as she saw the mess of his face.

"It's okay" he mouthed, causing her to smile. She ran over to him, to the surprise of him and everyone else.

Joey caught her, breathing in her scent and slowly releasing his breath as he held her.

'"I'm sorry" he told her. "Me too" she sighed, pulling apart to quickly kiss his lips before burying her head in his shoulder again, both tightening their grips with smiles on their faces.

"Wow, now that's a true love story" Mary smiled, watching her daughter. "Sure is" Tanya smiled at Mary, squeezing her shoulder.

**So thank you so much for all of the reviews, I'm glad you all seem to be liking this story so far.**

**Any ideas of what you'd like to see happen next? If you do, then just PM me or tweet/DM me on twitter - tam356**

**Leave a review please. Xx**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter thirteen**

Everyone walked back to the house in groups. Alice walked in front with Max, while Tanya and Mary walked behind them as they quietly discussed the relationship between Lauren and Joey.

Lauren and Joey walked behind everyone else, they had their hands entwined but didn't say anything to one another.

You could say they both found the situation awkward. Joey felt he needed to apologise again for insulting Mary's parenting skills, although truth be told, they weren't really up to much.

Her heart was in the right place though.

Lauren felt like she needed to apologise too for not telling him that her mum was never involved, some of the anger that Joey had towards Mary was probably down to Lauren not telling him the whole truth about what happened to her.

"I'm sorry" she told him, making Joey turn his head to look at her.

"Look Lauren, you don't have to apologise, I get that you weren't supposed to say anything" Joey told her.

"Do you though?" she asked him. "I do, I just wish you would've spoken to me about it, I could've helped you" Joey said.

Lauren looked down towards the floor as they carried on walking, she really did want to talk to Joey about her mum before the trial, she just didn't know how to.

Joey sighed as he saw Lauren drop her head down, he didn't want to make her feel down or bad about not talking to him, and he should've tried to get more out of her.

Joey let go of Lauren's hand as she continued to look down, he jumped in front of her and pulled her tight against his body.

"I'm sorry too, I'm sorry you couldn't talk to me but I promise you can tell me anything you like okay" he said.  
Lauren nodded against his chest as her eyes filled up with unwanted tears.

Joey placed his hands on Laurens shoulders and nudged her back slightly. "Why you crying ay?" he asked her, his tone light.

"I dunno, I thought you were mad at me" she said. "Of course not, I was more worried than anything" he told her, using his thumb to wipe away her tears.

"I love you" Joey said. Lauren smiled at him before blushing, making him chuckle.

"I love you too" she said, as joey pulled her into a hug again. "Come on" he said, taking Laurens hand and leading her into the house.

"Let me sort your face out, it's a mess" Lauren told him. Joey smirked at her and raised an eyebrow.

"That's not very nice babe, there's nothing wrong with my face" he chuckled causing everyone to laugh.

"I meant from the fight and you know I did" Lauren giggled, making her way into the kitchen.

She returned into the hallway a minute later to nobody there, realising joey must of gone upstairs, she made her way up to the bedroom.

Joey was sat up resting on the bed when Lauren got in there. She smiled at him as she shut the door and made her way over to the bed with a first aid kit.

"I hope you know what you're doing miss" he smirked. Lauren smiled at him. "Course I do, I've been doing this for mum since before I could walk" she told him as she climbed on his knee, straddling him.

"Sorry" he said. She smiled softly at him. "It's fine" she told him.  
Joey flinched as Lauren patted his cheek with some cotton wool. "Ah!" He moaned.

"Sorry, I can't believe he did this to you" she said. "It's all over now ain't it" he smiled at her.

"I just wish.. I just wish all this could be over" she sighed, putting the things away.

"It is over babe, he's in prison now and there's nobody to get to you" Joey told her.

Lauren smiled softly and leant forward connecting their lips.

"Mm I love you baby" Joey mumbled against her lips. "Love you more" she smiled, breaking the kiss.

Joey tucked some hair behind her ear before pecking her lips softly. Lauren then leant forward and rested her head on his shoulder still straddling him.

**Leave a review please.. So sorry for the long wait for this .. Had a lot going in and even really busy.. Xx**


	14. Chapter 14

**So to the guest reviewer who reviewed 'updating any time this year?' yes i am updating this year.. i dont really have many ideas for this story **  
**so dont know when i will be getting another update.**

Lauren had fell to sleep on top of Joey the night before and when she woke up her back was killing. "Ahh!" she moaned out in pain, in an  
attempt to get up.

"Steady baby" Joey told her, concern clear in his voice. "Whats wrong?" he asked her. Lauren buried her head into his chest before she  
answered him.

"I fell asleep like this last night and now my back hurts" she told him. "Oh babe" he said, rubbing his hand soothingly up and down her back.

Lauren accidently moaned as Joey hit the right spot causing him to laugh in return. Lauren buried her head intohis shoulder laughing,  
knowing exactly what she had just done.

Joey forced Laurens body back so he could see her face, he smirked at her as she was blushing. "Is that better babe?" he asked her. "yes thank you" she said laughing.

"Yeah you sounded like you were enjoying it" he laughed. "Joey!" Lauren moaned, leaning forward and shoving her blushing face into his chest.

Lauren blushed deeper as she felt Joeys laugh vibrate through his body. "Your an idiot" she moaned again. Joey lifted Lauren off of his lap and  
gently laid her down flat on the bed.

"Yeah but you love me anyway" he smirked, hovering over her. "You seem a bit sure of yourself" she said, smiling. "Because i know its the  
truth babe" he smirked, close to her lips.

"But is it? i think ive been confused because of the courtcase and that" she told him, expressionless.

Joeys face dropped as he came round to the realisation of what Lauren had just told him, he couldn't form no words, so just stared at her.

Lauren laughed loudly knowing she had got to him. Joey looked at her confused, still. Lauren wound one arm around Joeys neck, bringing  
his face down to meet hers in a soft gentle kiss.

They broke apart and Lauren was still certain Joey was lost. "I'm joking you idiot, of course i love you" she told him, smiling. Joeys face broke  
out into a relieved smile "I love you too, you minx" he smirked.

Joey leant over Lauren and connected their lips as one, they moved together hungrily before Lauren slid her tongue in to seek Joeys.

Joey removed his and Laurens clothes in seconds whie expertly keeping their lips connected for most of the time. Joey hovered over Lauren  
again, cupping both of her breasts in his hands, letting his thumb gently caress her nipples.

"Mm" she moaned, wriggling underneath his touch. Joey repeated this action over and overwhile pressing his lips onto Laurens. "Joey" she panted.

"What do you want baby?" he asked her. "You, i want you" she panted, breathlessly. Joey moved down to her breasts, sucking and licking each nipple.

"No, i want you inside me" she begged him. Joey carried on his games, driving Lauren crazy and he knew it.

"Please joey" shetold him as she wriggled beneath him. Joey smiled at her before he made his way back up her body, connecting their lips in a  
brief quick kiss.

Joey was inside her in one swift movement, causing them both to gasp. Their lips and tongues were connected with each others again as their  
bodies moved together as one.

Laurens body visibly shook as Joey brought her closer to the edge, he watched her eyes as the love poured out of them. "Joey" she moaned.  
"I'm close baby"she told him.

"Come with me baby" he told her, that was it for Lauren and with one more hard thrust they both cried out each others names together. Joey  
pulled out of Lauren completly and he lay down next to her.

Lauren turned over so she could lay against him, still catching her breath. Joey stroked Laurens face gently as they lay there together. "I love  
you so much Joey" she told him.

"I love you so much too" he told her, placing a kiss onto her forehead.

**review please. Xx**


	15. Chapter 15

**_Hi guys! Really sorry for not updating in a while.. My laptop is in the shop getting fixed. I should have it back within the next couple of weeks.. So sorry for keeping you waiting.. Will be updating as soon as I have it back. Xx_**


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter fifteen**

Lauren and Joey managed to get themselves dressed and down the stairs eventually.

"Uh hey, morning" Max smirked. Lauren blushed as Joey pulled her into his side, squeezing her shoulder.

"Where is everyone?" Lauren asked max. "Um, living room" he said. Lauren looked at him questionably as he looked like he was going to say something else.

"What?" she asked him, pulling away from Joey. "What?" Max asked back.

Lauren glared at him for a second. "Whatever it is Max, just tell me" she sighed.

"Er police have just left" he said, avoiding eye contact and scratching the back of his neck.

"What did they want?" Lauren asked him. "Er, it was one of your dads mated that came after you yesterday" he told her.

Lauren chuckled, confusing Max and Joey. "That wasn't exactly hard to work out was it? I mean who else would come after me?

"Suppose" he mumbled. Lauren smiled at him. "Anyway the police have him now, so it's all over with" Max told her.

"Good" she said, moving forward to hug him. Max smiled as she buried her head in his shoulder, he knew this was her silent thank you for looking after her.

"I'm gonna miss you when you leave" he sighed. Lauren pulled away from Max and looked at him confused.

"Why? Am I leaving?" she asked him. Max remembered he weren't supposed to say anything.

"Oh erm" he stuttered, scratching the back of his neck. "Max!" Tanya snapped from the living room.

Mary came through, smiling at a confused Lauren and Joey. Joey had took hold of Laurens hand by this point.

"Sorry sweetheart, it was meant to be a surprise" she told Lauren. Lauren furrowed her eyebrows together.

"Tanya and Max sorted us somewhere to live" she said. "What do you mean?" she asked her mum.

"A house, for me and you to live in, so we can be a proper family this time" she told her.

"Oh" Lauren said. "Do you not want to darling?" Mary asked. "I do, course I do, but do you not think it might be a bit soon for you mum?" Lauren asked.

"No darling, the sooner I can have normality the better" Mary said. "Right when we moving in then?" Lauren smiled.

"Well today? And it's only two streets away so you'll still be able to see whoever you want" Mary laughed.

Lauren smiled but it soon faded as she felt Joey drop her hand and leave her side, she watched as he walked through to the living room.

Her eyes followed his every move and she didn't miss how he never looked back at her.

She swallowed a lump in her throat as she thought about being apart from Joey.

"Go and talk to him" Max told her. Lauren looked at the doorway for a second before she slowly made her way through it.

She sat down on the sofa next to him, watching as he wouldn't make eye contact.

"You know, I'll only be two streets away" Lauren told him. "I know" he said.

"Well it's not exactly far is it? We can see each other whenever we want" she told him.

"No we can't" he replied. "Why not?" she asked. "Because, I'm going back home too, today" he told her.

"Why?" she asked him, clearly hurt. "Because that is the home where I really belong" he said.

Lauren frowned at him. "So was this the plan all along? To go home?" Lauren snapped.

"Well, yeah, I was only ever up here on a two week visit" he told her, no emotion visible.

"Right" she said, raising an eyebrow. "Well we can still make it work if you want?" he asked her.

"And is that what you want? For it to work?" Lauren asked him. "Hm" he nodded.

"It's not is it? Why did you lead me to believe that this could work out between us if you knew you were fucking leaving after two weeks?" she shouted.

"Calm down yeah?" Joey said, placing his hand on her arm. "Don't touch me you lying piece of…" she began.

Laurens eyes filled up with tears as she wasn't able to finish the sentence.

"Lauren..." he sighed. Joey instantly felt bad for the way he had gone about this.

"Just don't, we are over" she cried, walking out of the room. "Ill pack now" she said to her mum before running off up the stairs.

"What the fuck was that?" Max snapped at Joey. "I couldn't find the right words" Joey said guiltily.

"Really?" max said mocking shock.

Joey got up, picking his bag up and went to his car, after saying his goodbyes to everyone except Lauren.

When Lauren came back downstairs she was surprised and very hurt to see Joey had left without saying goodbye to her.

Lauren then shared her own goodbyes with everyone before her and Mary left for their new house.

**What did you think? Leave a review please.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter sixteen**

Lauren drove both her and her mum round the corner to there new home. She was quiet for the shirt journey and Mary worried that she was going to break down at any point.

Lauren slammed the brakes on aggressively, reminding Mary it was a good job she had remembered to put her seatbelt on.

Mary watched as Lauren got out of the car, slammed the door and dragged her bag to the front door of the new house.

Lauren looked at the other car parked on the drive and waited for her mum to catch her up.

"Whose is that car?" Lauren asked. "Err we've got another person living here too, I was going to tell you but you rushed off so quickly" Mary said with a raised eyebrow.

"I thought it was going to be just me and you? Y'know starting a fresh?" Lauren said frustratedly.

"Yes but he needed somewhere to stay and I thought it would be a good idea for him to say with us" Mary said guiltily.

"Great it's a he then? Just what I need, another useless man about the house" Lauren snapped.

"That's know way to talk about your boyfriend is it?" Mary asked Lauren smirking as she unlocked the door.

Lauren pushed the door open while looking at her mum confused. She looked back at the doorway though as she felt it being pulled open from the opposite side.

Her eyes watered and get breath faltered. "What are you doing here?" She asked him.

Joey swallowed a lump in his throat. "I've come for you" he told her. "Bit late for that" she said.

Joey felt like he had been punched in the guy, he knew he had messed up before, the plan was to Mae Lauren believe he wasn't going with her then surprise her when she got to the house, but he messed up pretty bad.

Lauren stomped off upstairs without another word, leaving Joey and Mary alone.

"She's pretty cut up Joey" she said. "I know, I didn't mean for it all to come out like that, I'm no good with secrets, I get nervous" he told her.

"We should've write you a script out, your no good with words are you?" Mary laughed.

"Not at all" he said. Mary could see the hurt flash across joeys face too, he was hurt that Lauren was hurt.

"Go and talk to her joey, she'll come round once she understands" Mary said.

"I don't know" he sighed. "You love my daughter right?" Mary asked.

Joey frowned. "Of course I do, there's no question" he said.

"Well then everything will be okay" she told him. "I hope so, I'll leave her to get some sleep and I'll talk to her when she wakes up" Joey said.

Mary smiled at him proudly, "you go get some rest too" she told him. Unbeknown too Mary and Joey, Lauren was sat at the top of the stairs, tears running down her cheeks.

She hurried into her room as she heard joey come up stairs. She waited ten minutes and then creeped into to the spare room where Joey had gone.

She walked round to his side and bent down, so she was at his level. She stared at him for a while, appreciating his features for a while.

She found herself on her knees, just watching him sleep. It was late now and she even ignored her shivers.

She was sat in her pyjamas and seen as it was winter she really shouldn't have been wearing shirts and a t-shirt.

Lauren lifted her hand up, sweeping her fingers across joeys cheek, across his lips and then letting her whole head fall forwards onto his chest.

Her tears fell as soon as her skin connected with his, soon turning into sobs.

She shot up as she felt joeys hand touch her back. He sat up in bed and looked at her concerned as she was still on her knees on the floor.

"Lauren?" He asked. "Are we still alright?" She asked him. Joeys face paled, he really had been dumb.

"Course we are baby, I didn't mean to upset you" he told her. Lauren nodded at him once before sniffling.

"Come here you, your freezing" he said, holding his hand out.  
Lauren took a hold of his hand and climbed up on his knee.

She sat on his lap and rested her head on his chest as he sat up against the headboard. He pulled the blanket up over Lauren and hugged her tight to his chest while occasionally kissing her head because he could feel her crying still.

"I'm sorry darling" he told her. Lauren lifted her head up slightly, still resting against his chest. She smiled at him "it's okay".

"No I mean it, I'm really sorry Lauren" Joey told her. Lauren's heart ached for him, she knew he wasn't a good liar, so this whole keeping the moving thing a secret wouldn't of been easy for him.

Lauren sat up further on his knee and pressed her lips against his slowly. Both there eyes stayed closed as they rested their foreheads against one another.

"I know you are" she told him, moving back down to her previous position. Joey wiped her eyes as she settled back down. "I love you Lauren" he said. "I love you" she replied before falling asleep.

Joey watched her sleep on him for a while and then he slowly lifted her to lie down on the mattress. He moved to lie down next to her, instantly smiling as she curled into him.

He wrapped his arms around her body securely and kissed her on the head.

"Goodnight sweetheart" he whispered.

**Leave a review please:) xx**


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